Effect of Sleep Surgery on Inflammatory Cytokines in Adult Obstructive Sleep Apnea: A Systematic Review and Meta‐Analysis

Objective To evaluate whether sleep surgery is associated with inflammatory cytokine changes. This study hypothesizes cytokines may change after surgery in adult obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Study Design Systematic review and meta‐analysis. Methods The study protocol was registered on PROSPERO (CRD42020154425). Two authors independently searched PubMed, Embase, and Cochrane review databases from their inception to June 2021. The keywords used were sleep apnea, inflammatory markers, cytokines, and surgery. The effects of sleep surgery on the apnea–hypopnea index (AHI) and inflammatory cytokines were evaluated using a random‐effects model. Both mean difference (MD) and standardized mean difference (SMD) of the changes in cytokines were calculated. Results Nine studies with 235 adults were included (mean age: 43 years; 82% were men). After sleep surgery, AHI significantly reduced by −11.3 events/h (95% confidence interval [CI], −15.8 to −6.9). In total, 8 and 6 studies were pooled for examining tumor necrosis factor‐alpha (TNF‐α) and interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) levels, respectively. Sleep surgery significantly reduced TNF‐α levels, with an MD of −2.8 pg/ml (95% CI, −5.1 to −0.6) and an SMD of −0.56 (95% CI, −0.85 to −0.27). Furthermore, sleep surgery reduced IL‐6 levels, with an MD of −0.6 pg/ml (95% CI, −1.0 to −0.2) and an SMD of −0.66 (95% CI, −0.89 to −0.43). No covariates were identified to be correlated with cytokine changes in subgroup and meta‐regression analyses. Funnel plots showed possible publication bias in current data. Conclusions In adults, OSA treatment with sleep surgery improves inflammatory cytokines. Laryngoscope , 132:2275–2284, 2022